The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 32

American Slang also has a lot of New York stuff. Also I don't know if it gets more Jersey than name-dropping Shrewsbury on "Wooderson" haha

 

American Slang is the NYC album, Sink or Swim is the most Jersey album.

 

Yeah I edited my post to include something to that effect haha

 

It's hard when a band writes an instant, undeniable, all-time classic so early in their career, because everything after that just gets judged in relation to it. The '59 Sound is one of those albums. But I love all their albums, even Get Hurt (although it's also my least favorite of theirs). I also still say Handwritten didn't get enough love when it came out, that thing is great.

 

Haha didn't even see your post before replying. Great minds.

I think the main exception on Slang is Diamond Church Street Choir, which is explicitly about the Rutgers area of New Brunswick, but that song is also several leagues ahead of anything else on the album musically.

 

Lyrically, Fallon captured the feeling of a certain brand of Jersey-exclusive sadness on Get Hurt that hasn't been defined as well since Darkness on the Edge of Town. "I think I'm gonna move to California" is the hardest hitting lyric in Gaslight's catalogue, but it's the kind of thing you'd only really feel kindred with if you subscribe to the Jersey worship, endless summer style songwriting that is such a huge part of the culture here.

 

Haha I just remembered after I posted it that the Shrewsbury reference in "Wooderson" is just about the Jerseyest thing ever.

 

Thank you. None of this Stray Paper slander.

 

i wont go into as much detail as i did in TWY thread but i do feel theres a "story arc" of sorts between Brians projects and i think a lot of it revolves around Jersey and, like @ECV mentioned above, the line about moving to California is so crushing because Brians spent so many albums knee deep in NJ mythology and now he wants to leave it all behind after his life has taken such a dark turn. id like to think Painkillers is a redemption of sorts to close that arc out and that Elsie was a "calm before the storm" which would eventually lead us to the 1-2 punch of HW and GH

 

I always liked the narrative crafted in the closing tracks. Introducing us to a troubled soul (Red at Night), the excitement of new love (Backseat), starting to settle into the relationship (When We Were Young), struggling to keep it together (National Anthem), dealing with the fallout (Dark Places), and finally, closure (Open All Night).

Largely, you can look at those albums the same way haha. Elsie doesn't count in Fallon's narrative here. It felt like, and I believe was intended to be, an off-shoot of songs that didn't fit with Gaslight.

 

the most Jersey moment is the the Edison namedrop in 1930 or the cookman one in blue jeans

 

1930 is super underrated.

 

It's as good as anything on any of their later records for sure

 

I think Film Noir is underrated.

 

Yeah Stray Paper is fine, but the back half of Get Hurt is rough

 

Film Noir was my first favorite track off '59 Sound. Fun Fact: Backseat was my least favorite the first time I heard it.

 

Break Your Heart is good but could be better, Dark Places is dope as hell, everything else isn't too great though. Red Violins and Selected Poems just feel like versions of what they already covered before. Ain't That a Shame isn't great, but it's mostly the chorus that makes it that way for me. Fallon's singing is on point though. Especially the opening lines and "Who do you love? Who do you blame?"

 

I wish Get Hurt held up as a full album, because it's really what sucked me in to the band. I was a very casual fan of theirs before I heard it. I am such a sucker for darker sounding stuff that it just clicked immediately. After Rollin' and Tumblin' specifically, it really just drops off for me in enjoyability. There's a couple of later songs that I do come back to, but it's very much a first half album.

 

Fun fact: The first time I listened to The '59 Sound (the album) I actually wasn't even sure I liked it until Track 3. All of a sudden I was like "holy shit this sounds like The Cure except The Boss is singing - this is the greatest thing ever" in my head. Looking back now I don't understand how I wasn't blown away by "Great Expectations" or the title track. The entire album is flawless.

To me, all of their albums are pretty damn Jersey. I guess I can see how Handwritten would be a California album, but that's actually one of my main critiques of it: it's not quite Jersey enough. Swapping out that amazing third verse in "Biloxi Parish" about 'Asbury's arms and you and me in the dark' for a bunch of words about heroes that rhyme and sound kinda cool but don't really mean much of anything make the song much less powerful than it otherwise would have been. I always saw that as an unfortunate side effect of Brian Fallon trying to lay off his 'hot words' and not specifically tie the songs to any one place, which strikes me as a bad idea. That's one of his greatest strengths. It doesn't matter that I've never been to Asbury Park or driven down Cookman - I feel like I have when I listen to his songs. An amazing novel about growing up and leaving childhood behind that happens to be set in England would still be amazing even if you aren't from England. Great writing makes the personal universal. Biloxi is still a phenomenal song though.

I've been playing around with the tracklist for Get Hurt since it was released, as I definitely don't think it works as an album as is, and it's definitely missing bonus tracks that are so good they needed a spot. I don't understand how anyone can not like "Ain't That A Shame" but in the same breath I can't stand "Stray Paper" at all really so to each their own.

 

I've also been tinkering with the Get Hurt tracklist since it dropped. I love Have Mercy as an opener.

 

What's everyones expectations on Brian's new record? Recording in New Orleans with Hutt, do you he's going full Waits with this record. I wouldn't mind so horns and accordions on it.

 

I'm down for whatever. He's earned my trust. I think he said it's going to be more rock focused than the last, which is cool. I think some horns and accordions would be pretty dope too tho

 

I think the album will be more focused. There's no Molly and the Zombies songs to re-work anymore, and no need to find a solo identity. He probably worked out a lot touring and finding his feet with the new version of The Crowes. I feel like he's commented on trying story telling and hand claps.

I feel A Wonder Life could be a bridge song between Painkillers and the new album. Just my thoughts. Looks like they are having fun.

 

I was thinking the new album was going to sound like the extended version of "Painkillers" the song they had been playing on tour. A little heavier and a little more electric guitar based - I don't really know the best musical terms to describe it. It seemed like the group of people he toured with behind Painkillers the album had really hit upon a sound with those songs that was a little different than the album and I thought that's where he kinda be going next. But looking at the studio pics he seems to be recording with a different people save for Ian. I really have no idea but I am really damn excited to have him making another album with Ted Hutt.

 

I was thinking he might take that Hustle Up Starlings sound a bit further.